Positions Available

Atmospheric Chemistry

Atmospheric aerosols, by backscattering solar radiation, attenuate the full impact of greenhouse gases. However, by absorbing sunlight, they warm the upper troposphere, thereby affecting its thermal stability, melting the mountain glaciers that feed major rivers, and reducing the persistence and reflectance of clouds. Clinical and epidemiological studies reveal that aerosols also induce detrimental health effects. More than half of the mass of tropospheric aerosols consists of complex organic matt

er largely derived from the chemical transformation of (natural and anthropogenic) gas emissions into species that can attach to seed particles. Additionally, organic matter is one of the main contributors to aerosol absorptivity in the near-UV−visible ranges. For the previous reasons, our laboratory studies the missing mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) production from heterogeneous oxidations and sunlight photolysis. Our work explores how atmospheric chemical reactions
of interest proceed "on surfaces" and "in water" under tropospheric conditions. These studies will contribute to understand the daily cycles of aerosol absorption observed in the field, and that may introduce a key feedback in the earth’s radiative balance.